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API

How to Generate PNG, WebP, and JPG Images Instead of PDFs with PDFMonkey

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Yes. PDFMonkey templates can render image files instead of PDFs. Create or duplicate a template, change its output type to Image, choose pixel dimensions, and submit the usual document-generation request with that template ID. WebP is the default; each request can override the format, dimensions, WebP quality, and filename.

What PDFMonkey image output does

PDFMonkey treats image generation as a template output type. The template still receives your data and renders its design, but the result is a single raster image rather than a paginated document. The documented default canvas is 500 × 500 pixels.

This is suited to social cards, Open Graph previews, thumbnails, logos, watermarks, badges and other graphics that need a predictable pixel canvas. PDF and image templates are not interchangeable in capability: PDFs are organized around paper sizes, headers, footers and pagination, while images are organized around width, height, transparency and raster compression.

Concern Image output PDF output
Layout unit Pixels Paper size and page layout
Typical uses Social cards, previews, overlays and web graphics Printable or paginated documents
Transparency Supported by WebP and PNG; JPG areas become white Not the same transparent-canvas workflow
Output formats WebP by default, or PNG/JPG per request PDF

Configure an image template

  1. Create or duplicate a template. In PDFMonkey, create a new template and select Image as the output type, or duplicate an existing template and change its output type.
  2. Set the canvas size. Enter the required width and height in pixels. If you do not change the documented defaults, the image template uses 500 × 500 pixels.
  3. Choose transparency deliberately. Enable a transparent background when the image will sit over another color or picture. WebP and PNG preserve transparent pixels. JPG cannot; PDFMonkey renders those regions as white.
  4. Keep the design raster-friendly. Check text size, contrast and edge spacing at the final pixel dimensions. A layout that looks fine on a large canvas can become unreadable when reused as a small thumbnail.
  5. Record the template ID. Your API request references this image template through document_template_id.

Choose dimensions, format and quality

Social and Open Graph cards

PDFMonkey identifies 1200 × 630 pixels as a widely recommended size for social-media and Open Graph images. Use PNG when maximum compatibility and lossless output matter. WebP is a smaller, modern default when your consuming systems accept it.

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Transparent graphics

Use PNG for broad compatibility or WebP when file size is more important and your consumers support it. Do not select JPG for logos, overlays or any design that depends on transparent corners: those pixels are white in the JPG result.

Large canvases

There is no documented hard pixel limit, but PDFMonkey warns that images above 4000 × 4000 pixels increase generation time and memory use. Treat that as an operational boundary: use the smallest canvas that meets the downstream requirement, and resize a copy for smaller placements instead of generating every possible size at maximum resolution.

Generate an image through the API

The workflow is the same as ordinary document generation: send a POST request to /api/v1/documents (or use PDFMonkey’s synchronous endpoint) and set document_template_id to the image template. The request’s meta object can override output details without editing the template.

Meta key Accepted values or purpose
_type webp, png or jpg
_width Output width in pixels
_height Output height in pixels
_quality WebP quality setting
_filename Base filename; PDFMonkey adds the matching extension

The examples below deliberately take the endpoint and authentication header from environment variables. PDFMonkey account configurations can differ, so use the base URL and authentication method shown in your current PDFMonkey API documentation. Add the data object required by your template in the request body.

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cURL

curl -sS -X POST "$PDFMONKEY_ENDPOINT" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -H "$PDFMONKEY_AUTH_HEADER" 
  --data @- <<JSON
{
  "document_template_id": "$PDFMONKEY_TEMPLATE_ID",
  "meta": {
    "_type": "png",
    "_width": 1200,
    "_height": 630,
    "_filename": "campaign-card"
  }
}
JSON

Set PDFMONKEY_ENDPOINT to the document-generation URL supplied for your account, PDFMONKEY_AUTH_HEADER to the complete header expected by that account, and PDFMONKEY_TEMPLATE_ID to the Image template ID. Include your template’s normal data fields alongside document_template_id and meta.

Python

import os
import requests

endpoint = os.environ['PDFMONKEY_ENDPOINT']
auth_header = os.environ['PDFMONKEY_AUTH_HEADER']
template_id = os.environ['PDFMONKEY_TEMPLATE_ID']

headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    # Store a complete header value such as the one required by your account.
    'Authorization': auth_header.removeprefix('Authorization: '),
}
payload = {
    'document_template_id': template_id,
    'meta': {
        '_type': 'webp',
        '_width': 1200,
        '_height': 630,
        '_quality': 82,
        '_filename': 'campaign-card',
    },
    # Add the data object consumed by your template here.
}
response = requests.post(endpoint, json=payload, headers=headers, timeout=90)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

If your account uses a different authentication header, change only the header construction; the template and meta fields remain the same.

Node.js

const endpoint = process.env.PDFMONKEY_ENDPOINT;
const templateId = process.env.PDFMONKEY_TEMPLATE_ID;
const authHeader = process.env.PDFMONKEY_AUTH_HEADER;

const payload = {
  document_template_id: templateId,
  meta: {
    _type: 'jpg',
    _width: 1200,
    _height: 630,
    _filename: 'campaign-card'
  }
  // Add the data object consumed by your template here.
};

const res = await fetch(endpoint, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': authHeader.replace(/^Authorization:s*/i, '')
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(payload)
});

if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);
console.log(await res.json());

Override the same template per request

A single Image template can serve different consumers. Keep the design and data mapping in the template, then select the delivery format at request time:

  • Use _type: 'webp' for the default compact web image.
  • Use _type: 'png' when lossless pixels or broad compatibility are more important.
  • Use _type: 'jpg' for photographs or systems that require JPEG, while accepting a white background wherever the design was transparent.
  • Set _width and _height for the consuming placement rather than stretching a small source image later.
  • Set _quality when the format is WebP and you need to balance file size against visual detail.
  • Set _filename once in the request; PDFMonkey appends the corresponding extension.

Webhooks and asynchronous processing

Image generations use the same completion model as PDF generations. PDFMonkey documents the documents.generation.success and documents.generation.failure webhook events for both output types. You can therefore keep an existing asynchronous pipeline: submit the document, wait for the success event, then store or publish the returned image; route failure events to the same retry and alert handling used for PDFs.

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Do not assume that a successful request means the binary is already available in the HTTP response when you use an asynchronous endpoint. Treat the documented success event as the signal to fetch or process the generated asset according to your account’s normal response format.

Or skip the browser setup

If your source is a live webpage rather than a PDFMonkey template, ScreenshotNeo can return a clean image from one API call. It is a different workflow: it captures a URL, whereas PDFMonkey renders structured template data. ScreenshotNeo is useful for page previews, documentation snapshots and URL-based Open Graph assets.

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for the available parameters. A basic WebP capture is:

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp
  • Cookie and consent banners, newsletter popups and chat widgets are removed before the shot.
  • Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed; the response identifies the page verdict and billing status with X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers.
  • An MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf tools for Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients.
  • The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month without a card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Every feature is included on every plan.

Create a free ScreenshotNeo account to try the URL-capture workflow.

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Troubleshooting image generation

The result is still a PDF

Check the template itself, not only the request. The referenced template must have Image selected as its output type. If the request points to an older PDF template ID, changing metadata cannot turn that template into an image.

The image has the wrong size

Inspect both the template settings and the request’s _width/_height values. Request-level metadata is the place to vary dimensions per job. Also check that your integration is not resizing the file after PDFMonkey returns it.

Transparent areas are white

That is expected for JPG. Select PNG or WebP and enable transparent backgrounds in the Image template settings. A white result can also indicate that the consuming application has composited transparency onto a white surface.

Generation becomes slow or memory-heavy

Reduce unusually large canvases, especially those above 4000 × 4000 pixels. Review oversized background assets and unnecessary high-resolution elements in the template. Generate only the dimensions your delivery channel needs.

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The API request is rejected

Verify that the endpoint, authentication header and document_template_id belong to the same PDFMonkey account. Send valid JSON with the correct content type, and confirm that your template’s required data fields are present. A template ID for a deleted or inaccessible template cannot generate an image.

No webhook arrives

Confirm that your webhook receiver is reachable and records both success and failure events. Make sure it is listening for the exact event names documents.generation.success and documents.generation.failure, and preserve the event payload for diagnosing template or data errors.

Operational checklist

  • Choose Image output instead of PDF output.
  • Set the canvas in pixels and verify the intended delivery size.
  • Use WebP or PNG for transparency; use JPG only when a white background is acceptable.
  • Keep large canvases below the point where generation time and memory become problematic.
  • Override format, dimensions, WebP quality and filename through meta when a job needs different output.
  • Reuse your PDF webhook handling for image success and failure events.
  • Test the final binary in every consumer that will display it, including social crawlers and systems that may not support WebP.

The Bottom Line

PDFMonkey can generate WebP, PNG or JPG images from templates through the same document API used for PDFs. Configure an Image template, set pixel dimensions and use the meta overrides when each request needs a different format or size.

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